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Rating: Ray Brown (1926-2002) was a key figure in Jazz for years. He played with many great musicians and singers, just to name a few: Oscar Peterson, Max Roach, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald (who became his wife), Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, etc. Between the late '70s and early '80s, Ray played in the roster of musicians for Norman Granz for the Pablo label and recorded several albums with figures of the caliber of Count Basie and Duke Ellington, in addition to co-starring in many other recordings.
Ray did not limit himself to recording with the greatest composers and musicians, but he recorded more than one album under his own name. A PERFECT example is this "Soular Energy," originally released by the Concord Jazz label. In this 1984 album, Ray gathered Gene Harris on piano and Gerryck King on drums to create this masterpiece. It’s music of captivating beauty from the first note: swing, energy, and poetry are the common denominators of the session. Music that offers the highest quality of execution to provide immense listening pleasure.
The pianist chosen by Ray is perfect. Even if Gene Harris is not as famous as Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, or Bill Evans, he manages to give his best in this album. His sense of time and rhythm is exceptional, the dialogue with Brown's double bass is absolutely perfect, while Ray's ability to dialogue equally with Harris's piano is equally perfect, managing at the same time to create a solid rhythmic image on which the drummer lets his drumming soar.
The presented tracks include some well-known standards like "Exactly Like You", "Teach Me Tonight", "Take The ‘A’ Train", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Cry Me a River", and a classic Blues by Ma Rainey: "CC Rider" (which is one of the bonus tracks present on the record).
Regarding "Take the A Train" (the old classic by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn), I must say that this interpretation is one of the most beautiful one can listen to. It is an exciting slow blues: the bass riff by Ray is extraordinary for its depth and beauty.
The edition under examination, a 180 gr. LP of pure red vinyl, is by the audiophile label Pure Audiophile: it is an absolutely extraordinary edition with exceptional sonic characteristics. This edition is already the second, the first was made with blue vinyl. According to the technicians at Pure Audiophile, the coloration of the vinyl is the only way to ensure you have pure virgin vinyl: if you buy black vinyl, the commonly used one, there’s no way to determine if the vinyl is reconstructed (recycled) or not. Anyone with vinyl from some time ago can testify that recycled vinyl adds significant amounts of surface noise, returning a dirty sound. The other reason is that their blue vinyl (later red in the second edition) is more resistant than the standard black one. This rigidity feature is responsible for improvements in the high notes, which gain extension and brilliance. Moreover, all the details of Ray Brown's playing on the strings are perfectly audible.
This vinyl edition includes 2 LPs as there are 4 additional bonuses compared to the original version of "Soular Energy." Pure Audiophile has traced the original session tapes and included the alternate takes of ‘Cry me a river', ‘Take the A Train ’ and ‘Mistreated but undefeated blues' by Ray Brown with guitarist Emily Remler plus the track by Ma Rainey with Red Holloway on tenor sax, Jeff Hamilton on drums, and Henry Sweet Edison on trumpet.
In conclusion, this is Jazz in its best form: a classic trio—bass, piano, and drums—that offers fluid and highly enjoyable music even for those who are not true jazz enthusiasts, and moreover, contained in a top-quality vinyl.
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